After backlash, Amazon to boost pay for longtime workers

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune

Workers fill boxes to ship Aug. 1, 2017, at an Amazon warehouse in Romeoville. Amazon workers who already were being paid $15 an hour now will get a bigger raise. Amazon said the raise will differ by warehouse

Workers fill boxes to ship Aug. 1, 2017, at an Amazon warehouse in Romeoville. Amazon workers who already were being paid $15 an hour now will get a bigger raise. Amazon said the raise will differ by warehouse (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Joseph PisaniAssociated Press

Amazon, facing a backlash from longtime warehouse employees who say its $15 hourly minimum wage wouldn't benefit them, will now provide a bigger raise to those workers.

The company said Wednesday that "slight adjustments" are being made this week, and workers who already made $15 an hour will get more than the $1 an hour raise promised last week. The raise will differ by warehouse and affect a small amount of employees, but Amazon declined to say how many.

When Amazon announced last week that it would boost its hourly minimum wage to $15, it also cut two benefits: monthly bonuses and another that gave workers Amazon stock. Several employees told The Associated Press last week that they expected to earn less because of the cut benefits.

A worker at a Maryland warehouse, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, said employees were told Tuesday that they would get a raise of $1.25 an hour after Nov. 1. That's 25 cents more an hour than what they were told last week.

The worker said they were also told they would get cash payouts for reaching certain milestones. They'll receive $1,500 for staying with the company for five years and $3,000 after reaching their 10-, 15- and 20-year anniversaries. Previously, the company gave workers one or two shares of Amazon stock after each of those anniversaries.

"Definitely happier, but we are still losing a bit," said the Maryland worker of the changes. "But it's better than it was."